Scientists discover the roundest star ever seen in the Universe

Most of the heavenly bodies are circular in shape in various degrees. Scientists from Germany have found the roundest known object in the universe – a bright hot star which is located some 5000 light years from Earth.

Most heavenly bodies are circular in shape but flatten on the poles. The radius of Equator is 21 kilometers longer than the radius measured through the poles. Similarly, the difference in the two radii is 10 kilometers in the sun. However, the difference in radii is only three kilometers on the newly discovered star. This makes the discovery important because it is the roundest heavenly body to be found.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and the University of Gottingen led by Laurent Gizon measured the roundness of the star by studying the oscillation of the stars or what is known as asteroseismology. This made it possible to measure the radii of the star with high precision. The researchers were surprised to find the difference between two radii only 3 kilometers. It is very trivial considering the mean radius of the star which was 1.5 million kilometers.

This makes the Kepler 11145123 the roundest heavenly body to be discovered. It is even more round the Sun and other nearby stars. Every star revolves on its axis, and this makes the poles of the star flatter as compared to the equator. It happens due to the centrifugal forces which are higher at the Equator causing it to bulge and less at poles causing it to flatten. The star is hotter and bigger, almost twice the size of the sun. The Kepler mission consistently observed the star for more than four years.

Since the star is more oblate than implied by its rotation and it led to the conclusion that there could be a magnetic field at the lower altitude which can make the star look more spherical to stellar oscillation.